


An Explorer, An Emperor, and a Gauntlet

by Daleth



Category: League of Legends
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-30
Updated: 2016-08-16
Packaged: 2018-07-27 15:07:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7623445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daleth/pseuds/Daleth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ezreal, a prodigal explorer from Piltover, the self-proclaimed city of progress, discovers more than he was expecting in a routine trip to the harsh deserts of Shurima. A different look at Azir's resurrection, as well as Ezreal's magical origins.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Introductions

After hours of exhaustive walking, the vicious rays of sun continues to beat down on his exposed neck. An observer would be unable to tell you whether or not he was affected by their intense heat. Ezreal himself could, and happily would, tell you, were you so inclined to ask. His response would be something along the lines of “The sun is evil and it hates me.” Relief was almost within his reach, however, and he knew this.  This was not his first, nor his second, complete hike through the desert. He had even penned the maps for this route by hand. As he takes his final step over the peak of a sand dune,the familiar view of his destination, Shurima, strikes his eyes. An equally unfamiliar sight strikes the intrepid explorer’s eyes before he could take the time to enjoy his sense of relief, much to his dismay.“What on Runeterra is..?” A glorious palace, stretching far above its surroundings, and still shining in the faint light of dusk. Built, as far as he could tell from this distance, and in this light, out of pure gold. The poor village, containing buildings constructed mostly from clay and stone, with which he was familiar, seemingly unchanged. How could this possibly have happened? Despite the near infinite curiosity Ezreal felt, he was exhausted from the long hike. His questions could wait for one more night. 

The bright rays of the morning sun shine into the room Ezreal had rented for his stay in the desert city. They were not, however, the main reason the explorer was awake. That privilege belonged to the soldiers currently abducting him, and dragging him through town to the palace. There were both much taller than the explorer, who stood about 5'6" when not being dragged along by voiceless soldiers. Their bodies were covered in brilliant gold armor, which matched the shine of the wondrous palace. They each had one hand hooked under Ezreal's arms on either side. In their free hands were large, golden spears. The explorer took note of the gold obsession. Despite his situation, Ezreal couldn’t help but poke and prod at the mysterious, and rather rude, escorts. “You know, guys, you coulda just asked. Like I’m gonna say ‘nope, not a big fan of meeting magical out of nowhere emperors. I’ll stay bored and curious thanks.’ I’m still in my pajamas, c’mon.” The pair of figures offered no response to his prodding, in fact they had not spoken a single word to Ezreal at all. He did take note, however, of the grains of sand that seemed to be falling off of their bodies. “Hey you guys know that it’s okay to shower before you come and drag people out of their beds right? Like I get you had a great party out in the dunes, but this is gross. And, frankly, you smell like death. I took a trip to the fringe of the Shadow Isles just last month with this SMOKIN’ hot Demacian shadow hunter, vampire slayer, whatever she’s called. Anyway, I hired her as a guard and she was all-” His story was interrupted by a swift blow to the head via the butt of a spear from one of the soldiers. They had apparently had enough of the explorer’s mouth.

The next time Ezreal came to consciousness was in the throne room of the emperor he was so curious about. Though his thoughts were still jumbled, and he’d have an awful headache the rest of the day, he noticed something that was very quick to point out. “Hey umm, I could just be hallucinating, your guy hit me pretty hard, but uhh…. You’re a giant bird. Is that like.. A thing? Do you do that here? Because if you've always had giant animal people in Shurima then... oh wait, then all the drawings on those tablets actually make a lot more sense. WAIT. CAN I MEET THE DOG ONE? I LOVE DOGS.” The emperor was taken aback by Ezreal's... less than respectful reaction. His features, much like all of the desert nation’s latest additions, shone gold, and his stature would tower over those near him. He was easily over 7 feet in height. His voice was be deep, and booming. A scowl, or the best that a giant golden beak could do to look like a scowl, was his reaction to the final words out of the explorer's mouth. He said nothing, however. The silence from the emperor was perfect for Ezreal, though. He always had something in his mind that he felt was worth sharing aloud. “I’m still in my pajamas. You drag me out of bed, these guys don’t say anything, they smell AWFUL, and now I’m here meeting a giant bird dude who just showed up out of nowhere in my pajamas. You know, the best part is, this barely makes my top 5 weirdest adventures list.” He wasn’t actually done talking, he could keep going forever, but the avian had heard enough. It was his turn, now. “They had not told me about your talent for speech. While I have you here, so eager to express your thoughts, I find myself rather curious. You are a historian of sorts, yes? What do you know of the Shuriman Emperor Azir?”

“Oh that guy? Really great story. I don’t need an apology by the way, for your boys here beating me over the head with their spears." He turned around to gesture to the soldiers, but all that remained where they once stood was piles of sparkling sand.  "Ooooookay.... Anyway! Here was this guy that was born into royalty, every emperor was, other than Morellin, great story... though I’m sure you know. He was special though, this Azir guy he actually knew what he was doing. Most of the emperors of Shurima were.. less than favorable in the eyes of the people. His rule, though, was a point in history where Shurima could, potentially, have been the strongest empire in the world. Then one day, this dude, his chancellor, most trusted companion, completely stabs him in the back. There was this big ceremony, you get some god powers or whatever, and mid way, the adviser just straight up murders Azir. Big explosion, like /miles/, idiot probably got himself killed in the blast, too. Shurima never recovered. Until like.. now. What is up with all this anyway? You built it unnaturally fast.” The emperor could only think to laugh in response to Ezreal’s masterful storytelling. He responded with a few constructive criticisms. “His name was Xerath. The betrayer, in your tale. I did, in fact, trust him above all others. The, how did you word The Ascension ceremony? ‘God Powers.’ An accurate depiction, if not childish. He took the power for his own. I do not know what fate befell him since that day... What is important is that I have returned, and I shall restore this land to the glorious state in which I had left it. A pleasure to meet you, I am confident in that... Now onto my introduction." The large avian stood from his seat upon the throne, and began to take steps down to approach the explorer for a closer conversation. "I am Azir, the one true emperor of Shurima. And I have brought you here for your help with a very important task.”


	2. Recruting the Battle Mistress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ezreal fills in his favorite Shuriman bodyguard on the details of his royal mission. His favorite Shuriman bodyguard fills him in on pieces of the story that he was missing, as well.

The sun is down. The outlaws are out. They control the streets, late at night. One aspect of Shurima, part of a very lengthy list, that Azir seeks to change. We find our intrepid young hero at a local bar, The Oasis. The explorer sits in a booth opposite of a woman roughly twice his age. Her long brunette hair flows down past her shoulders. A circular blade, with four very sharp, very dangerous protrusions rests at her side. A full body tunic, with the hood pulled back covers her shapely figure. Ezreal’s found himself explaining his odd encounter with the reanimated emperor to this mercenary of the desert. “Right, thanks for showing up so fast. Your boys usually aren’t so great at relaying messages. So I met the new emperor yesterday. He’s a gigantic bird-” The woman opposite Ezreal interrupts his story with a simple,

“I know.”

“And his feathers are all golden, and-” and again,

“I know.”

“He wants me to find-... wait. What do you mean you know?” The explorer’s posture straightens up. He looks to the woman with curiosity in his eyes. A small smile tugs at the corner of Sivir’s lips at the boy’s reaction. She leans back in her seat, and in a mocking tone says,

“Wow. Impressive, Ezreal. It usually takes a few minutes to get you to shut up.” A faint pink blush spreads across the explorer’s cheeks at the woman’s teasing.

 

“Anyway.. About Azir. It was a couple of weeks ago. I had ambu-... Actually. Instead. Let’s go with the word, ‘found’ a wrecked caravan out in the dunes.”

Ezreal shoots her a suspicious look as he brings his drinking glass to his lips. Sivir just hurries the story along. “One of the items I recovered was a map. I know that you’re a big fan of those, so that should excite you. Supposedly lead to a great treasure.. I followed it, came across big stone doors. They were at an angle, leading down underneath the sands. The old Shuriman emblem was on them, so I knew something important was inside. Didn’t get exactly what I was expecting, though… When I reached out to push the doors open, the emblem started to glow. Like it was reacting to me. They swung open. I thought that was suspicious, but with a big enough haul I could retire early. Real early.”

Ezreal nods in response, but says nothing. He’s eager to hear what happens next. “So I went down the stairs. At the bottom of them was a big room. Mostly empty, some old pottery was scattered around. Big stone tomb in the center. It had the emblem on it too. Figured it was for an emperor. Buried with all of his loot, in that airtight tomb? That’d be a career ending haul for sure. It looked untouched, too. I /knew/ that was suspicious, because finding the place wasn’t hard at all. But again, the score was too big. And you know me, I’m a big girl. I can handle myself. I went to push open the lid… and it started glowing too. And shaking. A few seconds later and this big wave shot out from it. Pushed me back, I fell flat on my ass. All the pottery around suddenly started.. Repairing itself. It was shining, brilliant, gold. Like it was brand new. Then this.. Giant bird, stood up.”

Ezreal’s leaning over the table at this point, mesmerized by the story. This is quickly moving up his list of weird adventures. Sivir rolls her eyes at his childlike wonder, and continues the tale. “I don’t remember exactly what he said. I was slightly in shock. He explained that only a direct descendent of the Shuriman royalty could open his tomb. That something in me reacted with the doors, magic happened, yada yada. Tried to convince me to join him at his side. He wouldn’t take no for an answer. So I lead him out of the tomb, and that’s when we saw it.. The palace. It’s amazing… But it was just. There. Like it had just built itself while I was inside the tomb. I’d had enough of all the crazy magic for the day. So once I had ‘escorted’ him back to the palace, as was my ‘royal duty’, I snuck out while he was busying himself with checking to make sure all the pillars were in the right place, or whatever.”

Ezreal just stares at Sivir. He stares for a while. Incredulity fills his expression. He raises his finger to speak, then puts it back down for a few seconds. Finally, he asks, “I thought you wanted to retire?”

“...And become a princess, with my adoptive dad, the Bird Emperor? I’d rather keep doing what I do until the day I die.”

“Uh-huuuuuh…. Well, that’s good for me I guess. Though the job might require you to familiarize yourself with some more of that ‘crazy magic.’”

“Why’s that, kiddo?”  
“Well, Azir wants me to… I have a name, Sivir. I don’t call you ‘mom.’”

“What if I wanted you to, huh kiddo?”

Ezreal’s cheeks turn a dark, dark red. Sivir can’t hold in her laugh at his embarrassment. After a few seconds of laughing, she waves her hands dismissively. “Relax, Ez. I’m messing with you. Finish telling me about the job.”

“You.. I…” He just sighs. “Yeah, yeah. He wants me to find some relics for him. Three artifacts were supposed to be given to him after his ascension ceremony. There’s a robe, a staff, and a gauntlet. They’re all supposed to help him channel his divine powers. Because you know. He’s a demi-god, giant, magic bird. He says he’s not gonna come with me. A lot of work to do in the palace, and the city. Making sure everyone understands who’s in charge.”

“But you know that word’s still going to spread, and you want me tagging along to dissuade any bandits from going for an easy score off of you.”

“You should be used to that by now, mooooooom.” This draws a smirk from Sivir.

“What’s your plan to stop me from just swiping it all off of you when we’re done, then?”

“It’s all worthless, until he touches it. That’s what he said anyway. After hearing your story about the magic doors, I’m pretty confident it’s true. How much do you think you can sell a glove, a stick, and a piece of purple cloth for?”

“...Fair enough. You have any idea where to find these things?”

“He says his trusted librarian would have all of the information that we need.”

“Did he.. Mean… the one he had? Before he died? That’s his lead for you?”

“Yeah, he.. Still doesn’t really seem to understand that things are different now. But I figured our best bet would still be starting at the library.”

“What do you mean ‘our’? I’m not holding your hand on the way to the library, kiddo. I’m sure you can manage that on your own. I’ll stay in the city tonight, though. You won’t have to deal with the messengers again. Swing by my room when you’re done with your homework.” Ezreal responds with a soft laugh, and finishes his drink. “Alright, alright. I’ll have more information tomorrow, I promise…. What if his librarian really is there, though?”

“Ezreal. He’d be hundreds of years old. Maybe thousands.”

“Yeah but… magic.”

“...Alright. Let’s get you to bed. Clearly you weren’t ready for Shuriman Ale.” The two stand from their seats at the booth, and walk out into the cool night. They make their way to the inn, and say their last goodnights at they head to their separate rooms.


	3. The Curator

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ezreal makes another Shuriman friend, and gets a map to start him on his mission for the emperor. The last expository chapter, Action and Adventure and Things™ start happening in the next one.

The Shuriman Library lay before Ezreal, as vast as it was ancient. An enormous building, containing knowledge collected over thousands of years of effort by Shuriman scholars. The doors which normally opened to reveal these vast stores were ones with which the explorer had intimate familiarity. These doors, however, were not the same doors that he was familiar with. They did possess some new qualities, though. Qualities with which Ezreal was slowly becoming acquainted. Namely the gaudy golden glimmer that Shuriman architecture had regained in the wake of its Emperor’s magic return. The structure itself was renewed as well. Far from the crumbling, ruinous building that he had grown accustomed to. Nothing but gold, shining and splendid. A tower stretching several stories into the sky. The explorer was beginning to think that Azir might need an intervention. With a push on the large, heavy doors…. Absolutely nothing happened. A second attempt from the explorer gave the same result. And a third. And a very stubborn fourth. He then attempted knocking. Louder. Even louder. Still nothing. With a resigned sigh, he took a seat with his back against the doors, and thought. He thought about his plan moving forward for a few minutes. He figured there’d be no reason to send him here if there wasn’t a way to get in. So he’d have to walk around the whole thing.

Luckily for him, despite the library’s great size, it extended vertically more so than horizontally. The tower extended upwards contained the myths, legends, and religious texts of Shurima. Stories which Ezreal would read very thoroughly, after his run in with the ascended. It also had several floors leading deep underneath the sands, chronicling the history of the humans of Shurima. These texts Ezreal had read already, as maintaining the underground floors was much easier for the people of Shurima. For as long as they had recorded history, it was being kept in this library. Each floor upwards signified a new link in the chain of the divine hierarchy, and each floor downwards a new era of rule. The ground floor served as a starting point of both collections, and was where all of the oldest tomes and scrolls were stored. This ground floor would only take about half of an hour for him to walk around, and check for any extra entrances. Which he did. There were no extra entrances. Ezreal was very sad. When he arrived back at the front doors, however, he found them wide open. Standing at the entrance, as if guarding the doors, was a towering figure, clad in Shuriman royal garb.

The guardian stood a few inches taller than the emperor, but his stance exuded far more of an intimidating aura than the bird. In his right hand was a massive cane, almost as tall as the figure himself. This was clearly a weapon of some kind, as the top ended in an axe blade larger than Ezreal’s face. His muzzle parted, and a deep voice, dripping with wisdom and speaking in ancient Shuriman, simply asked “Are you the explorer?” Ezreal just stared for a moment, with slight wonder in his eyes. He had never heard the language before, but he understand the words. Unfortunately, he found his voice caught in his throat.

The jackal asked once again, in Runeterran common this time, “We do not have time to waste. Are you the explorer?” A small nod was the young blonde’s response, and he extended his left hand out to the guardian. “Ezreal. Nice to, uhh, meet you. Mister? Sir.. not really sure how to address a giant talking dog…” The jackal let out a soft chuckle, and returned Ezreal’s handshake with a furry hand easily twice the size of the explorer’s. “I am Nasus, the Curator of the Sands. You may call me Curator, or simply Nasus. I am familiar with your work, Ezreal. Some of the books in this library were penned with your assistance. You are a talented historian.” The explorer smiled sheepishly. It was rare for anyone outside of Piltover’s academies to acknowledge his work. Rarer for the compliments to come from very tall half-gods.

“I protect all of the knowledge contained within this library, including your contributions, and am responsible for deciding who is worthy of exploring it. I have slept for many centuries... The emperor’s return has awoken me, and so I have returned to work. There is much history that I have missed in my absence.”  
“Right, well, that’s.. That’s pretty cool actually. I have a lot, /a lot/, of questions about you and your library. Like all of the extra floors that it suddenly has... But like you said, I am kind of on a deadline! You have maps for me, right?”  
“Yes, explorer. Forgive me, as I so loathe withholding information from a fellow scholar, but I am on orders from the Emperor to only provide you one map at a time. His encounter with Xerath has left him suspicious of outside help.” The jackal turned and took a step into the library, gesturing for Ezreal to follow behind. The explorer did so, and took a moment to examine the renovated interior.

Endless rows of scrolls and tomes extended across the entire floor, with a massive spiral staircase in the center of the room. Windows were found in plenty, all letting in natural light to the library. Sconces were also hung on the walls, for torchlight at night. Tapestries were found around the perimeter, each denoting an event in Shuriman history. Ezreal assumed these were signifiers of what each section’s literature were written about. Nasus was leading the pair to the staircase, and the explorer asked on the way, “So I bring you the relic, you give me the next map? Simple. Smart, too. I have a kind of obvious question, but in my career I’ve learned that assumptions usually don’t work out too well… You’re ascended, right? Like the emperor?”

“Yes, I am one of the ascended. My ceremony was long before my liege’s, however. I had already been working as Curator before the great Azir was even born. I wrote the history of his rule myself, before that treasonous snake brought it to an abrupt end.” Ezreal had more questions, as they descended on the spiral staircase to the first underground floor. He found the layout almost identical to the first, except that it was already lit by torches. Windows don’t work as well underneath the sands. “Right, Xerath. I’ve read some stories here and there about the guy. Sorry that he blew up your whole nation, that’s pretty messed up.. But Azir wasn’t the only one who had a ceremony, from what I can tell. What happened to the other ascended?”

The curator shot a sideways glance at Ezreal, his eyes showing a hint of sadness, and did not answer the question. He was still walking, however, leading the explorer towards a chamber in the back of the room, hidden away behind another set of golden doors. The silence of the curator was enough of an answer for Ez, and he decided on a change of topic. “Okay, so what’s the first relic you’re sending me after? Where’s this map lead?”  
The curator easily pushed open the doors, and lead Ezreal into a small room with a torch on each of the four interior walls. In the center sat a table, and on the table was a box. Nasus reached into the box, and pulled out a single rolled up scroll. His speech was much harsher than before Ezreal’s questioning of the other ascended. “This will lead you to the gauntlet. When you have retrieved the gauntlet, you will come back to me, and I will give you the map to the next relic. Any further questions, explorer?”  
“Uh.. no. No, I’m good. I think I can figure out how to work a map.”  
“I shall see you when your task is completed, then.”

 

When night fell, Ezreal found Sivir in her room, and brought her to their booth in the bar to bring her up to speed. “Alright, MOM, here’s the deal. The librarian was totally there, and he’s an ascended like your great grandpa. Big talking dog, got a scary cane. Definitely wouldn’t want to get on his bad side. He gave me a map, it should lead to where we can find that gauntlet.” Sivir just nods, and stands from her seat. “Let’s ride, then.”  
Ezreal was still sipping at his drink, and looked up at the mercenary. “W-wait, that’s it?”  
“What, you’d rather go by day? We’re harder to track at night. Helps with the sun, too. We go through this every time you hire me, kiddo.”  
“I just, thought you might have questions or something..”  
“You don’t pay me to ask questions. I’ll get the camels ready. Be outside in the next five minutes.” The explorer rushed down the rest of his drink, and was outside in exactly four minutes. He and Sivir both mounted their camels, and rode off into the dark cold night of the Shuriman desert.


End file.
